When the students were brought to their house Michelle desperately needed space, after more than ten hours of transit first by plane and then by bus next to Freyja she was all out of spoons.
As people piled into the kitchen to enjoy pizza left for them Michelle quickly explored the house, getting the lay of the land. The first floor had a kitchen, dining room, two living rooms, an exercise room, and a study room. At the back she found a patio door leading to a large wooden deck beyond which was a large garden with a pool.
She went out, badly needing to stretch her legs and wings.
A few people joined her, a pair of young boys sitting on the deck and throwing sticks to a small dog, while a pair of older students had somehow clambered onto the roof and were smoking.
Michelle looked at them. There wasn’t a door she could see, how had they gotten there? Maybe they could fly.
Fly… Michelle had never gotten to fly, in all the confusion and danger, it had fallen to the wayside. She looked up at the sky, the sun was slowly setting over America, she could do it. How hard could flying be?
She stretched her wings out, letting them unfold completely, each over two-meters in length.
She went running, picking up speed, letting her wings beat at first slowly, but then faster, when she felt ready she leaped!
…and landed face first into the dirt.
“Are you okay?” Michelle blinked, a pudgy white teen with short purple hair had come to her side, kneeling down.
“Ja,” Michelle got up, dusting herself off. Why didn’t it work?
“I’m Avery,” they spoke with a soft Canadian accent, “Are you german? Your thoughts are in— Sorry, I can’t help but overhear them…” They winced visibly.
“You can read minds?” Michelle asked. “That’s so cool!”
They blinked. “You’re not angry?”
“Why would I be?” It was Michelle’s turn to be confused it seemed.
“People usually get mad,” Avery said.
“But you can’t help it?”
Avery shrugged, “Doesn’t matter to them.”
“That’s dumb.”
Avery giggled, “Thanks, I guess. You didn’t tell me your name.”
“Michelle Weiss.”
“Are you German then?”
“Ja, from Munich.”
“I’m from Edmonton, Canada.”
Michelle smiled, “I’ve heard Canadians are very nice,” she joked.
“Psychic’s confession? We’re polite, we can be real dicks inside, we just prefer to smile and apologize.”
“Noted.”
“So, what were you doing?”
“Trying to fly, I just got my wings.”
“Oh, that is so cool,” Avery looked to the sky, “Flying must be nice.”
“Reading minds would be nice, I wouldn’t read people wrong again, know what they mean when they say things.”
Avery laughed, “Can I ask something?”
“Of course,”
“Well, it’s direct, but are you autistic?”
Michelle blinked, she hadn’t expected the question, or being clocked so quickly. She nodded.
“It’s just, your thoughts, they’re different from other people,”
“Different?”
“They’re windows, we’re Linux?”
“We’re?”
“I never met another autistic person before,” Avery confessed, “Well outside of those awful therapies I had to attend as a kid…”
“I’m sorry,” Michelle answered.
Avery ran a finger in the dirt, tracing circles, “I should go back inside,” they mumbled, “But I’ll see you around?”
“Of course,” Michelle smiled.
Avery got up and Michelle watched them leave. They were strange but friendly, there was a certain loneliness in them that Michelle recognized well…
“Good luck flying!” Avery said from the door.
Michelle waved them goodnight and turned back to the yard. Flying…
Michelle took a deep breath. If at first she didn’t succeed, she had to try again.
She took another running start, beat her wings… And fell down again. She tried again, and again, the only thing improving was her landings.
What was she missing? Why couldn’t she fly? She kicked a rock in frustration, it was dumb, Valkyra had made it seem so easy.
She contemplated giving up, but then the people on the roof shouted; “You can do it, pretty angel!” The boy said, “Fly little bird!” the other answered.
Her mom’s voice came to her. “Giving up is not an option, if it doesn’t work, try something different.”
She tried a different strategy; she climbed one of the yard’s trees, a big and mighty oak, stood on top of a large branch and jumped off, her wings beating furiously.
Once more she crashed on the ground.
A few weeks ago a fall like that could’ve hurt, but now she was a Valkyrie she barely felt it.
“Gottverdammt!” She screamed.
It was then she noticed Freyja was standing there.
“The fuck are you doing?” Freyja asked in their native German.
“I’m trying to Fly, why isn’t it working?”
She laughed, “Michelle, you’re six-foot three and two-hundred pounds of muscles, these tiny wings can’t lift you off the ground with just muscle movement.”
“But Mom—”
“You don’t get to call her mom,” Freyja snapped.
“Valkyra could fly.”
“Yes, that’s because she was trained,” Freyja came behind her, “You need to use the wing’s magic to carry you.”
“Magic… But how?”
Freyja sighed, “Your wings are more than just bones, muscles and feather, they are a physical link to all of the Nine Worlds,” she said, “Njord blessed us with the winds of the nine worlds, close your eyes.”
She did. Freyja went behind her and gently unfolded her wings, “Feel the worlds in your mind; the eternal frost of Niflheim, the raging fires of Muspelheim, feel how the wings connect to your body, your spine is Yggdrasil, the world tree.” She spoke softly, “Climb out of the depths…”
Michelle could feel a buzzing pass through her, she could feel something above, no beyond.
“Good, you can feel it, that is magic, the power of another reality. Now, bring it to bear, let it out of your body and into the world. Let the winds of Njord carry you into the air, visualize it.”
Michelle did as she was asked, and great powerful winds appeared, filling her wings.
“Now, fly.”
Michelle beat her wings and she took to the sky, light as a feather, a great wind carrying her upward. “I did it!”
“Congrats,” Freyja said in English without a hint of enthusiasm. “Alright, come down now.”
But Michelle had other plans, she beat her wings and flew around the yard, letting the winds carry her like a kite. She felt weightless, like floating in the ocean but lighter even. Flying was the best thing!
The people on the rooftop applauded and whooped.
“Knew you could do it!” They said cheering.
She grinned and waved at them.
All she had to do now was land. It couldn’t be that hard, right? She aimed at the ground and beat her wings. She tried to right herself but her feet skid on the ground, she lost balance and slipped, falling down on her belly again.
“We’ll practice landings.” Freyja sighed. “Alright, you’ve had your fun.”
Michelle got back on her feet, still grinning from ear to ear. “I flew!”
“You did, now let’s get in and unpack, jet lag is kicking my ass and I don’t want you barging in late because we have to share a room.”
Michelle didn’t argue, she went in and grabbed some cold leftover pizza from the kitchen and her baggage, going upstairs to find their shared dorm room.
Ravenhold Academy 